HRD-Related Web Sites

Xavier HRD students and alumni are provided information on the Internet that may be of interest to them in their professional and academic endeavors. The use of the Internet for research and practice in HRD is changing daily. There are hundreds of links to worthwhile HRD sites already out there. This list is meant to be a summary of some of the highlights of using the Internet, and to give Xavier students and alumni a head start on finding their way through the Web.

If you find sites that are particularly helpful or are good examples of internet-based training, e-mail gardner@xavier.edu. We will be updating the pages often and want to put your practitioner experience to good use.

Training on the Internet

For information dissemination and just-in-time training on computer-appropriate topics, the accessibility of the Internet can't be beat. To keep in touch with what is happening in the field of HRD, the Internet can't be beat. As a resource and supplement to HRD activities such as training, Web sites can enhance and reinforce instruction.

In addition to courses that are linked to different organizations, company-wide Intranets which are internal training networks, can be developed to facilitate information sharing and course implementation; the Intranet may be accessed and look the same as an Internet browser, but it would be restricted to that organization's users or subset of users. Company announcements, training registration, policies and procedure manuals updates, employee data banks, internal job postings and training manuals are all common applications of Intranet use.

Knowledge of, and using, the Internet is not an optional activity anymore for HRD professionals. Organizations whose HRD staff are not interested in researching potential uses of the Internet may find themselves co-opted out of jobs by the information systems people. Clearly, the Internet is not an answer for all HRD issues in an organization, but the potential advantages and disadvantages of using the Internet need to be explored.

Searching the Web

There are a number of general search engines available that can help you find Web sites on virtually any topic, anywhere in the world. Just as knowing how to best organize yourself for research on library databases, learning how to most efficiently and effectively search the Web using one of the search engines available is an art. It takes time and practice. You will get different results using the same keywords with the different search engines, and at different times! The following are brief descriptions developed by Dr. Jerry Braun at Xavier of the most common general search engines:

Yahoo (www.yahoo.com/) is a popular directory search engine; easy to use. Searches Yahoo database only; categorizes search; local and national Yahoos available. Options: and/or; substrings; listings per page; time period.

Lycos (www.lycos.com/) is also very popular. Comprehensive and has options: sites by subject; pictures; sounds.

AltaVista (www.altavista.digital.com/) searches the entire Web and returns extensive list of hits (number of sites discovered), but the highest-ranking hits are not always the most relevant. It supports case sensitivity and the use of "and/or".

Excite (www.excite.com) has options to search Web site reviews, has a comprehensive Help function, and advanced search options.

You might want to look at Spiders Apprentice (www.monash.com/spidap.html) to learn about and how to use search engines; it is not one itself but provides tools for Web beginners. Xavier's McDonald Library (www.xavier.edu/library) also provides reviews of and access to the major search engines.

Here are some specific shortcuts to using some of the search engines specifically for topics related to HRD:

The World Wide Web Virtual Library: Education (www.csu.edu.au/) provides links to educational sites around the world that specialize in K-graduate education.

University of Cincinnati Library (www.libraries.uc.edu/) can be accessed directly through the Web or through Xavier's XPlore system.

Xavier's McDonald Library (www.xu.edu/library) can provide access to other library sites in Ohio and around the world. Other business and academic databases are available through the Web as well.

Links to Useful Sites for HRD Professionals

HRD professionals have a variety of roles and responsibilities, so it is difficult to pinpoint the Web sites that will be of interest to all. The following sites are those that may have more general appeal to people involved in training, organization development or career development, as well as some in the human resource management field. The URL addresses were accurate as of November 2009, but as you probably know, Web sites change and are added daily. (If you get the message that the server can?t be found, be sure to re-type the URL and try again; and if the URL contains a "1" (one) or an "l" (letter l), try reversing them--it may be difficult to distinguish the two!) If you find a site you want up-dated news from, try using the "Personal Web Robot" which notifies you when a particular Web page has changed. The Xavier HRD Program assumes no responsibility for the reliability or accuracy of the information contained at these sites, nor does a listing on this page constitute an endorsement of any product or company whose information might be reached through these links. This information is provided solely for the convenience of Xavier HRD students and HRD professionals.

Shouldn't Miss Sites

Here are some of the sites you might want to keep up-to-date with?they provide links to other HRD sites and are run by pretty reliable organizations and people. Add your own, but be sure to share them with us.

Professional Organizations & Associations

Even if you are not a member of a professional association, many times you are able to access their web sites and use many of their services for free. Sometimes your member number is necessary to access databases or directories. The major associations of ASTD, SHRM, ISPI also have job databases that are open to all.

Publications

You might want to get on the mailing lists of some of the major publishers in the HRD field. Their Web sites, however, usually offer even more information about the new books/journals and may provide search services and links to other publishing sites.

Journals/Magazines/Newsletters

Here are some periodicals that either offer on-line subscription (oftentimes for free) for full-text review or have abstracts of articles included on the web site.

Business Week OnlineYou can sign up for a free newsletter and review selected articles from Business Week.

From Now On: The Educational Technology Journal Although directed toward educational environments, this is an excellent, free on-line journal and might be valuable for HRD professionals interested in using educational technology in their classrooms.

Fortune MagazineTo keep up with business, this on-line version of Fortune Magazine offers selected articles full-text.

HR World You can register for a free membership and review articles from HR/PC magazine.

HRD Quarterly Abstracts of the current year's issues are available here.

Training You can usually view 4-5 full-text articles from the current issue of Training here.

Training & DevelopmentYou can view tables of contents for the past two issues and about 10 full-text articles at this site. If you are a national ASTD member, you can sign-on and read all the articles.

The Web Developer's Journal If you're really into developing Web sites, this free on-line journal will give you lots of information and free software.

You might want to try this Web site to find other on-line journals of interest to you:

Listservs

A listserv is an automated mailing list that allows people to send e-mail to one address, but their message is copied and sent to all the other subscribers to the listserv. Listservs are organized around topics of interest, such as training, organization development, career development, etc. You have to "subscribe", but it is a free list. Some of the listservs generate 100's of mail messages per day, and you always have the option to unsubscribe. Read the instructions you get from the listserv after you subscribe; there are usually options to receive "digests" daily which are all the messages lumped in one mail message. Questions are posed, jobs are posted, reviews and discussions are commonplace. You don't need access to the World Wide Web to join a listserv; you only need an Internet e-mail address. Usually, you e-mail the listserv at the addresses below and in the text message, type sub name of list firstname lastname. A tool for finding listservs, as well as discussion groups called newsgroups, can be found at: www.liszt.com/.

LEARNING-ORG: Learning Organization Discussion List You can sign up for this listserv through its Web site at http://world.std.com/~lo/LOinfo.html To subscribe, you can also send an e-mail to majordomo@world.std.com. I like the flavor of this listserv.

HRD Topics

In addition to the Web sites previously mentioned, the following are ones that I think might be of interest to you. This list is not intended to replace any of the more extensive lists available on HR/HRD topics. If you want more "lists of lists", go to Section (f), and remember to go to Section (a) for the "Shouldn't Miss Sites!"

My Favorite "Links to Links" Pages

As you will find by going to many of the Web sites mentioned at this site, there are usually pages that provide links and references to other sites of interest. The Xavier HRD Home Page is no different, and I hope you will continue to browse www.xavier.edu/hrd for links of interest. The following Web sites have very extensive pages of links to HR/HRD-related Web sites.

Final Words

The Internet has a lot to offer HRD professionals, but a few words of caution are in order. Many of the sites are commercial ones or organized by people who may not have a lot of experience in HRD. The major associations such as ASTD, SHRM, ISPI and the Academy of HRD have Web sites, so start with them. Sites are not reviewed by any neutral body, so use the Internet as a resource, but not a final word on what's current in HRD. Articles in respected HRD journals and magazines go through a rigorous review process, which is not the case for some of the writing out there on the Web. Be an informed consumer of what you read and use in your HRD practice.

Another caution: You can get hooked! The amount of time putting together this list was astronomical, so I hope it will cut down on many hours of searching that you might want to do. You could literally sit in front of the computer for 24 hours a day and still not visit all the sites in HR/HRD; each one leads to another, to another, ad infinitum. Keep referring to the HRD site to see changes, additions, or comments about the sites. And be sure to share with us what you learn as you become more expert in Internet research for HRD. Have fun!